Officials talk about road plans, work

County will revise priorities based on firm’s assessment

BENTONVILLE — Benton County’s justices of the peace saw roads from a new angle Tuesday, getting a bumper-level view provided as part of a new program to assess the condition of the road system.

The Transportation Committee discussed the road plans and work done so far this year.

The county hired GreenbergFarrow Architecture to do an assessment of the paved roads. GreenbergFarrow will survey about 800 miles of roads and assess them, including identifying problem areas by using satellite mapping data. Proposals to deal with problems also will be included. The work by GreenbergFarrow will cost $65,500.

The county will revise its plan based on the information.

County Judge Barry Moehring said he anticipates using the information to better maintain roads.

“You take your most highly traveled roads, roads that are used by school buses and emergency vehicles, and keep them as ‘green’ as possible,” Moehring said.

Jay Frasier, public services administrator who oversees the Road Department, briefed the justices of the peace on the work the department has done since Jan. 1 and plans for the rest of the year.

Frasier said the first few months of the year are the “non-paving season” and the county has been concentrating on cutting brush along roads, doing drainage work and putting red dirt on roads to build up low spots. He told the committee the department has put in 41 culverts this years at a cost of about $55,000.

Frasier said the department has also done about $75,000 worth of work installing guardrails in hazardous areas. He said the guard rails are a safety measure, and to illustrate told the justices of the peace the county had a road grader slide off the road during an ice storm three or four years ago. The operator wasn’t injured in the accident.

“It’s scary when you get that call,” Frasier said. “It takes one mistake and you’re in trouble.”

Frasier also told the justices of the peace the Road Department has cut its budget for capital equipment for 2017. The county approved about $2.6 million for capital equipment and Frasier said the department has found equipment at lower prices and saved about $194,000.

The condition of roads is one of the issues most frequently raised by residents, Moehring said Tuesday. Moehring is working with the Road Department to develop a better means of recording questions and complaints and tracking them to resolution.

A sampling of contacts

shows complaints and requests range from signs being knocked down to speed limits and from flooding problems to the paving plans.

Ken Foxx contacted the county asking for a speed limit sign on Huntington Road near Gravette. Foxx said he was told the “default” speed limit on unposted county roads is 55 mph, which he said creates hazards on the gravel road. He said there are about 20 homes on or near the road and asked something be done.

“Surely there are requirements for population density and road construction that would dictate a different speed limit than 55 mph,” Foxx said.

Most of the contacts deal with complaints or requests for service, Moehring said. A handful are from residents thanking the county for work done. Jim and Fern Thorpe live on East Arkansas 264 and complimented the county on a paving project on Harris Road and said the Road Department crew went beyond the minimum requirements of their job. Pouring a concrete apron to meet the Thorpe’s driveway and taking down a pair of dead trees on the edge of the right of way for the road in danger of falling.

The condition of roads is one of the issues most frequently raised by residents, Moehring said Tuesday. Moehring is working with the Road Department to develop a better means of recording questions and complaints and tracking them to resolution.